Maryland leaders join rally at NOAA headquarters after federal worker cuts
Maryland lawmakers joined protesters on Monday outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, headquarters in Silver Spring in support of the hundreds of employees and weather forecasters who were laid off by the Trump administration.
The mass layoffs are part of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) drastic cuts to the federal government.
Protesters held signs that said "Hands off NOAA" and "Federal workers are heroes."
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, said NOAA provides vital services to the public. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen also attended the rally.
"They are firing people for doing their job," Raskin said. "They want to fire the climate scientists for doing their job. They want to fire the weather experts for doing their job because they want to privatize that too."
Shrinking federal workforce
The layoffs come amid efforts by the Trump administration to shrink and streamline the federal workforce.
Laid-off staffers who were considered probationary employees received an email Thursday, which read in part:
"OPM has advised that '[p]robationary periods are an essential tool for agencies to assess employee performance and manage staffing levels.' (4) In light of that guidance, the Agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and/or skills do not fit the Agency's current needs."
Fight for laid-off NOAA employees
On Friday, Feb. 28, Senator Van Hollen and former NOAA officials held a virtual call following the terminations.
"We do have the biggest fight on our hands that we have witnessed certainly since I've been in Congress and anytime that I can remember in my lifetime," Van Hollen said during the virtual call.
Speakers voiced their support for NOAA and the other agencies affected by the layoffs, calling on federal leaders to rehire them.
"Park rangers, firefighters, scientists – all of these people, whose purpose is to serve everyday Americans, have had the rug pulled out from under them. And we will all be worse off for it," said House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman.
"Every day, NOAA employees forecast the weather, track severe storms, and issue critical guidance that keeps Americans safe," said Congressman Gabe Amo, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Environment.
What is the NOAA?
The NOAA runs the National Weather Service (NWS), which issues important weather warnings such as hurricanes and tornado warnings. It is also responsible for monitoring the health of the oceans and much more.
Gary Szatkowski is a retired Meteorologist in Charge at the National Weather Service. His career spans 38 years with a majority of it spent covering the Philadelphia metropolitan area and much of the surrounding region.
"It covers a wide range of things. But first and foremost is to provide weather information for basically everyone, including broadcast meteorology," said Szatkowski. "I don't think a person goes through the day without using National Weather Service and NOAA data. They may not realize it."
Szatkowski explained that the move to fire NOAA staff may impact the weather notifications that everyday people receive.
"When someone gets a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm warning, a flash flood warning," said Szatkowski. "Those are all coming directly from the National Weather Service, that's not coming from some other government organization. So those warnings are probably the most important in terms of protection of life."
WJZ's First Alert Weather Team and meteorologists across the county work closely and rely on data from NOAA and NWS to deliver weather reports 24/7.
"Under the NOAA umbrella are these different agencies that discriminate and help people you and me get information on how to stay safe and also how to be prepared," explained Steve Sosna, a meteorologist a part of WJZ's First Alert Weather Team.
550 organizations, businesses, and institutions signed a coalition letter addressed to Congress urging them to take action.
Former NOAA officials, who spoke directly with current staffers, also previously confirmed to CBS News they saw members of the DOGE team at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the Hoover Building, in Washington, D.C., where NOAA's parent agency, the U.S. Commerce Department is located.
